#n-emone

The building may have been old but it certainly wasn’t abandoned, being in a group of three would make moving around discretely a difficult task, so the three of them decided to split up, all of them had coms so communication would be possible and. Instead of simply sneaking in, obtaining any documents they could that could contain information on the Religious Fanatic’s identity, and get out as fast as they could; Junpei had accidentally tripped one of the security alarms while he, Phi, and Akane were separated. When the alarm went off all three switched immediately to Plan B, to get out as fast as possible with what they had and meet up at a different location to figure out what went wrong and what to do next. Junpei had been up on the seventh floor at the time, Phi on the sixth, and Akane on the third, and since all of the elevators had been disabled with the alarm, all three had to rely on the only emergency staircase in the building. Akane had been able to make it out okay, but unfortunately security officers had blocked the stairs on the fourth floor, forcing Junpei and Phi to figure out another way out. The two had met up on floor 5 to discuss a possible plan to distract the guards for just long enough allowing them to escape.

“I really hope this works, it would be better if we had a floor plan for this damn place.”

“While I can’t deny that would help, we’re stuck working with what we have, and what is that?”

“We both have guns for last ditch efforts and worst case scenarios, our coms, the morphogenic field, the thumb drives with what information we were able to get…”

“And not much else, so we should get out of here as soon as we can because they’ve more than likely figured out someone is here.”

“Right.”

“I let Aoi know what’s going on, he told me to stay within the com’s range until you two are out so I can keep him updated or if you need me to go back inside to help.”

“I hope we won’t need that Kanny, but it’s appreciated.”

Little did Junpei know he would be eating his words very soon.

The two ran down hall after hall hoping for another emergency exit or a way to access the fourth floor somewhere as the footsteps of the guards grew louder and louder, eventually finding one thing they had been looking for. A balcony in need of repair set over a sad and unused atrium that was directly above a balcony on the fourth floor. Right when Junpei and Phi were preparing to figure out how to get themselves from the fifth floor balcony to the fourth floor balcony through a gap in an old, worn down, guardrail, they heard the sounds of footsteps stopping and guns being pulled and set to be fired.

Immediately the pair turned around and put their hands where their own guns were concealed, one of the three security guards shouted something in russian to the effect of “stop.” Ready to pull their own guns at any second, Junpei stepped in front of Phi, not because he was bigger, but he had been in similar situations back during his year of detective work and felt he was more prepared to be fired at than Phi was, even after the Nonary and Decision Games presented them both with grim situations. Phi in turn, took a couple steps back, careful not to push on the railing too much out of fear of breaking it if she did. Another command was shouted and they both regretted not learning more Russian dialect in case they didn’t have an interpreter with them, but it was too risky bringing an extra person without experience for a mission where none of them were planning on having small talk at any point with anyone other than themselves. As a result, they both stayed still, eyes still focused on the trio in front of them, blocking off their access back to the hallway. Junpei and Phi both noticed the man on the right slowly moving his own gun away from the two of them and down to the right, why he was doing that, they didn’t know.

Well didn’t know quite yet.

The second after the trigger was pulled there was a scream, Junpei whipped his head around to where Phi was supposed to be, realizing the guard had shot one of the bars keeping the railing attached to the balcony, causing it to break and fall, and subsequently making Phi lose her balance. Being treated with the sight of Phi falling from the fifth floor was more than enough for Junpei to decide to pull out his gun and shoot at the guards. Adrenaline pulsing through his brain made it hard for him to think about anything but getting out of there after finding where Phi had fallen and before he knew it, he was past the guards and on his way to the emergency exit as Akane’s voice came in over his com.

“Junpei? Phi? What happened? I heard a gunshot and a scream over both of your coms before one of them stopped working and more gunshots from the other, I don’t know who’s it was bu-”

“That was Phi’s com that probably broke, I fired the shots, I’m not sure which side of the building its on, but Phi fell from a fifth floor balcony in an atrium, I don’t know what kind of injuries she has but I’m running for the staircase right now so I can check on her.”

A moment of static filled Junpei’s ear as he swung open the door to the staircase.

“Sorry, I was trying to inform Aoi about what’s happening, You said it was an atrium right? I should be able to recognize it from the outside so I’ll see if I can get in from there.”

“Thanks.”

Junpei kept running down the stairs, thankfully without running into more security. For a supposed government facility, there was a small number of security guards, but it made Junpei’s trip down the stairs easier so he didn’t question it too much. Arriving on the ground floor, he made his way to the atrium as Akane’s voice again filled his ear.

“I’m with Phi, she’s unconscious, but she’s breathing. I think there’s a chance she fractured something when she landed, could you help me carry her when you get he-”

Akane wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Junpei burst into the room and over to where his fiancee and Phi were on the ground. Phi was in Akane’s arms and Junpei could see bruising on her face and neck, and her right shoulder noticeably dropped down low compared to her left. Running off for a second to find something that would work as a makeshift splint.

“Aoi is on his way with a car, we’ll still have to walk a bit because he doesn’t want to risk getting too close.”

“Okay, can I borrow your scarf for a second?”

“Oh! Yeah, here.”

They all sat there, not saying anything while Junpei tied a piece of metal around Phi’s back and arm, keeping her shoulder in place as he took Phi from Akane to let her stand up and start walking.

“You know where Aoi is going to be right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know when he’s going to get there?”

“Not exactly, but he should arrive soon.”

“I sure hope he does.”

Both of them kept walking through a cold russian night, occasionally glancing over at Phi, though nothing was likely to change at this point. They both knew she needed urgent medical attention, brain injuries can do so much damage to a person but it’s impossible to tell how bad an injury is until the patient is scanned, wakes up, and evaluated, but all they could do is wait and hope she’s well enough to pull through while walking to the pick up spot. Aoi was there before they arrived and left the vehicle to help Junpei get Phi into the car safely, while Akane got in the front passenger’s seat. 

Akane had given her brother updates through the morphogenic field as the events played out, so none of them had anything to say or explain as he drove through the woods. The trip consisted of somber silence until Aoi spoke up.

“We’re 18 hours ahead of California right now, seeing as it’s currently 03:22 for us I’d say it’s about 21:22, or 9:22 at night for Diana and Sigma.”

Without saying it directly, they all knew someone was going to have to let the two of them know what happened to their daughter. With Sigma’s familiarity with the human body from his cloning work in a different timeline and Diana being an emergency room nurse, both of them wod figure out pretty quick how serious this was. What none of the people in the car knew however, was how they would handle being so far away from Phi while they knew she was hurt.

-

“Oh the phone! Who’s calling us right now? Is it Phi?”

“Just a second Diana, I’ll answer it.”

Sigma and Diana opted not to join Crash Keys on international missions, but rather help from California, that way they were far less likely to end up in a dangerous situation that could stir up unwanted memories of their deaths in other timelines or make them shift. Phi on the other hand decided immediately to join the international missions, so they haven’t had a whole lot of time to just be a family together with their daughter. Phi did contact them regularly however to give them updates on anything that happened or just to talk and get away from whatever stressful event she or her parents experienced recently. With the difference in time zones however this led to calls at all different times of the day for both parties.

The couple had been on their couch, close to finishing watching a movie together when the phone went off. Even though Sigma would likely come back with the phone, Diana still paused the screen and walked with him anyway. 

“Klim residence, what do you need?”

Sometimes Sigma would show more of his “old-man brain” as Phi liked to call it, through mannerisms like the way he answers the phone.

“Oh Aoi, why are you calling? Usually it’s Akane or Junpei for Crash Keys work.”

Diana couldn’t quite hear the other end of the phone, but the slight concern in Sigma’s voice was enough to make her a little nervous.

“Yeah Diana is here with me.”

Sigma looked towards Diana and explained Aoi was on the line and needed to tell both of them something, but asked for it to be over speaker phone so he wouldn’t have to repeat himself. While neither said anything about the uneasy feelings rising from their stomach, the looks they shot each other as Sigma pressed the button said more than enough.

“Okay, you can start now.”

“Alright, it’s very late for the four of us right now so I may sound a bit tired, but I needed to tell you as soon as possible what happened tonight.”

“What happened?” The uneasy feeling only grew stronger between the two.

“Tonight Akane, Junpei, and Phi tried to see if a government building in Russia had files that could help our search for the Religious Fanatic, but it didn’t quite go to plan and Phi was injured.”

“How… bad… is it?”

“Let me explain what happened. In order to check the files, they had to go inside. The building in question was rarely used for anything aside from storage and is old as fuck, but still had some security.”

“So they broke in.”

“Yeah that’s the first part. Its what happened later that you need to know about. After getting some of the files from their computers an emergency alarm was pulled and they had to leave as quick as they could, Akane got out okay but Junpei and Phi had more issues to deal with since they were on some of the higher floors and security blocked off the only set of stairs in the building.”

“That’s not safe if a fire breaks out though.” Diana was looking more nervous by the second. Aoi taking his sweet time explaining the whole thing rather than getting right to what happened gave her a feeling that it was because something really bad did happen and Aoi wasn’t ready to say exactly what yet. Sigma didn’t look as panicked as his partner, but the expression on his face could tell anyone who knew him that he was terrified.

“Like I said, old building, mostly used for storage, there’s not really enough people there at once for it to be an issue. But back to what I was saying, Junpei and Phi had to figure out how to get around them and that included having to make a noise to get the security guards out of the stairwell while they ran down the halls finding a different route to the stairs without the guards catching them.”

“Was this around when Phi got injured?”

“A bit before that actually, they couldn’t find another hall that led to the stairs, but got cornered on a balcony that was more than a little worse for wear by the security guards at gunpoint. I don’t have full details right now, but one of the guards managed to shoot the rail at just the right point to make it break and she fell off without a chance to grab onto something or balance herself.” Sigma and Diana both froze, looking at each other with dread in their eyes for what they had to ask next. Sigma swallowed and opened his mouth.

“You said earlier that Junpei and Phi were on the upper floors, how long was the fall?”

“The building was 8 floors including the ground floor, she fell from the fifth floor to the ground floor, but Junpei didn’t. She’s being checked out by one of the doctors we were able to get in contact with to see how serious it is.”

“Do you have anything you know for sure that you can tell us?”

“She more than likely shattered her right shoulder and fractured some ribs on impact. She’s also been unconscious since Akane and Junpei got to her so there’s a good chance she might have a traumatic brain injury as well but we won’t know how bad of a TBI it is until she wakes up.” Moments felt like hours for Diana and Sigma while they processed what they had just heard. Slowly, Diana ended up on the verge of tears while Sigma’s hands clenched into fists as he began to speak again.

“Was that all you needed to tell us or is there more?”

“There was one more thing. We might be getting tailed by the government soon and we might have to be on the move again very soon. We’ll take care of her as much as we can but soon it’ll be safer to have Akane or Junpei bring her back to America instead of having to bring her to more possibly dangerous locations and situations while she’s still recovering.”

“So you’re saying she’ll be back in america soon, right? If that’s the case we’re more than happy to let her stay with us for the time being.” The thought of having Phi close again was enough to calm Diana down for a second before all of the worst case scenarios started playing in her head. Being an ER nurse can expose someone to witness more horrific injuries and deaths than any one person ever should.

“I’m sorry, I think I need to excuse myself for a moment.” Diana left, leaving Sigma alone with Aoi on the phone.

“Is Diana okay? I know this isn’t the best news to hear but it was important to make sure you both knew what was happening.”

“Thank you, if possible keep us updated if anything changes, As for Diana, she's… she’s been under a lot of stress recently, she just needs a minute to calm down.”

“Alright, just to let you know now, from our current location to the airport nearest to Irvine, it’s a ten hour flight by jet and we don’t want to risk the flight making her head injury worse. We’re going to make sure she’s well enough to fly before we know for sure when we’ll take her back to California and we don’t know how long that will be.”

“Where are you anyway?”

“Khabarovsk, Russia, it’s an actual city and not a small town so buying medical supplies shouldn’t be an issue if you’re worried about that, but hospitals are out of the question since the last thing we want to do is anything that could result in us getting arrested. I don’t know if they got any pictures of our faces, but three of us did break into a government building so I wouldn’t consider ourselves on the good side of the law.”

“… Just keep Phi safe, please.”

“We will, don’t worry. Tell Diana what I told you, and I’ll call you again unless I make Junpei do it for me.”

“Alright.” The call ended with a beep and Sigma looked down at the phone in his hand to see they spent over 40 minutes on the call. He set it down and went upstairs to try and find Diana. And he did. She was crying in the extra bedroom in their house, there so that when Phi would visit, she would be able to have her own room. Slowly, Sigma walked over and crouched down, putting a hand on her back.

“Aoi will make sure we’re updated on what’s happening with Phi, they need to make sure she’s going to be able to handle being in a plane or a jet before she comes back, but they’re near a city so they’re able to get whatever medical supplies they need for Phi.” Diana acknowledged his presence, but still didn’t seem ready to talk. “I know that you want to be there but you have to wait, I’m sure sh-”

Diana interrupted Sigma but whatever she was trying to say came out in a mix of gasps and sobs, it was impossible to make out any words the first time she tried saying it.

“Its okay Diana, take your time.” Sigma continued to rub her back, both of them were still trying to make sense of everything they heard, but Sigma’s first priority was trying to calm his wife down. She took a couple deep breaths before trying to speak again.

“Last week we lost a patient who tried to kill themself by jumping, he wasn’t much older than Phi.” Diana turned and continued to weep in Sigma’s arms.

-

Aoi was so close to falling asleep, when did he last have a normal sleep schedule? He didn’t know, but he didn’t really think he could have one until they knew for sure everything was okay and 8,000,000,000 people weren’t going to die in a nuclear war. As close as he was to drifting off the slumberland, the knocking on the door was demanding his attention and he begrudgingly went to open it. On the other side was Akane, looking a little more relaxed than before he left to call Sigma and Diana.

“Here to let me know how Phi’s doing? Based by the look on your face things are going a bit better than an hour and a half ago.”

“I am less nervous right now, but I’m still worried. We know for sure she cracked four of her ribs and has a compression fracture on her right scapula. The doctor will return tomorrow with the supplies the stabilize the shoulder blade, so for now it’s in a splint.”

“Better than Junpei’s?”

“Aoi! This is serious, yeah it’s better than Junpei’s, but you think this is a good time to be joking right now?!”

“Yeah, yeah, Sorry, still unconscious I’m guessing?”

“Yes, we were told she was lucky she didn’t have a skull fracture so it’s likely her right shoulder took most of the damage from the fall, but she definitely has some kind of brain injury, without equipment to do scans with and considering she’s still asleep, they couldn’t tell how bad it was.”

“Not surprised. Where’s Junpei? You wanted to be free of him for a minute?” Akane scoffed at the question.

“He’s with Phi, we were asked to make sure she’s monitored at all times to be and prepare for if anything changes.”

“And if she wakes up?”

“She’ll definitely be in a lot of pain, we were given medications to have her take if she wakes up before the doctor comes back.”

“There’s something, else isn’t there.”

“I’m worried about Junpei. During the Nonary game we set up there were timelines where he didn’t react well when people died. It’s a normal reaction to have to that situation, I know, but after that, he went through a very traumatic year before we ended up in the decision game. I’m worried he’s starting to blame himself for what happened to Phi.”

“Well then go talk to him about it.”

“Not right now, I’d wanna make sure there’s nothing super bad happening when I talk with Junpei because I don’t want him to have a reason to avoid talking to me.”

“Fair.”

“How did the call go? Sorry you got left to do that but me and Junpei had to communicate to the doctor about what happened.”

“About as well as you could expect. I couldn’t see their faces, but the tone in their voices made it clear they’re emotionally torn up over this. Diana dipped towards the end of the call so it was just me and Sigma for the last few minutes.”

“Oh.” They stood there for a bit. Thinking about how it’s more than just Phi who needed help right now. Junpei was here with them, but Diana and Sigma were so far away from the daughter they love. The Kurashiki siblings had strong mental walls from the difficulties they faced as children, but even this chipped them a bit. Suddenly, Akane’s phone buzzed from inside her pocket. She pulled it out to see a text from Junpei and opened it.

“I think Phi’s waking up, I haven’t gotten a full response for anything I say to her but she’s definitely in pain.”

Without a word both of them ran for the room down the hall where Phi was. The closer they got, the more they heard soft whimpering coming from the room. Junpei said she was feeling the pain and they could hear it as Aoi grasped the door handle.

He turned it to find Phi on her left side, hand on her right shoulder with her face contorted in pain and tears streaming from her eyes. The bruises more prominent now that they’ve been working their way to the surface for almost two hours. Junpei was next to the cot trying to see what he could do to calm her down.

“Has she said anything yet?” Akane ran for the pills and water bottle on the other side of the room. It was pain killers sure, but it was going to be hard for Phi to take them if she wasn’t fully conscious. Still, they should be ready to give the medication to Phi as soon as possible.

“Not really, I was sitting over there when she started crying. I texted you after getting over here to see if she was waking up. Nothing’s changed since then.” Junpei moved away slightly to give Akane room next to Phi. Moving Phi’s hair out her face with her hand, Akane tried her best to soothe the pain while Phi was asleep as the two other people in the room sat still in silence aside from Phi’s crying, hoping for the best.

“… urts…”

“Phi?” Both Aoi and Junpei drew closer without thinking, while Akane kept her hand on the other girl’s face. All three holding their breaths hoping for the best.

“It… hurts…”

“Phi? Can you hear me?” Akane tried her hardest to not let the fear in her throat come out while she spoke. Slowly, as if barely noticeable, Phi began to open her eyes.

“Yeah, I'm… it…”

“We have pain killers for you to take, do you need help with them?”

A shallow nod from Phi was enough of a que for Akane to ask the boys to help Phi sit up enough to swallow. As they slowly moved her, she winced anytime something touched her shoulder. Akane broke the seal on the water bottle and opened two blisters containing the medication before helping phi get them into her mouth and down with a sip before Aoi and Junpei slowly helped her down back to the cot.

“Damn, this hurts like a bitch.” Phi’s speech was hoarse and quiet, but she was awake and alert somewhat of her surroundings, a good sign no doubt. “What happened?” She asked as the three other people in the room shot each other looks before Junpei raised his voice.

“Phi, what was the last thing you remember? I can explain from there.”

“We were running in the halls trying to find another way to get to the stairs, that’s it.”

“Okay, so um… we didn’t find another way to get to the stairs. We got cornered on a balcony and not long after that, we were both taken off guard and one of the rails broke, and you fell with it.”

“That… would explain a lot- ahh…” Phi winced again and brought her hand up to her head as a wave of pain shot through it.

“The doctor we had look at you said you might have some kind of brain injury but she wasn’t sure how bad it was. The painkillers should kick in soon, but you should rest as much as you can.” Akane slowly began to softly stroke Phi’s face to try and distract her from the pain. Aoi moved to cover her with the blanket again to keep her warm while Junpei moved the painkillers and water back to the other side of the room.

“Do… Diana… and Sigma…”

“I called them already and told them both I’d keep an eye on you and give what updates I can, just focus on getting better for right now.” Aoi response helped Phi relax a bit, at least they wouldn’t be wondering why she wouldn’t be able to call for awhile.

Slowly as the medicine took hold, Phi drifted off to sleep as Akane took the next shift to stay awake and watch Phi.

-

Neither Diana nor Sigma had a restful night’s sleep. Both would wake up at different times of the night, checking their phones for word from Crash Keys on Phi’s condition. Even with their worries, they still had jobs to do, Diana’s shift at the hospital is usually twelve hours long and starts at 6 in the morning, so she needed to be up early anyway. Sigma was never a morning person and worked from home on his own schedule so Diana usually places little notes for him to find when he wakes up after she leaves, something they started doing while the two of them were trapped in the bomb shelter to help keep their spirits up while Diana was pregnant. This morning however she ultimately decided to leave one note before heading out.

“Please let me know if you hear anything about Phi. I’ll check my phone during my breaks to let you know if they tried contacting me through my phone. -D”

When Sigma woke up, Diana had long since left for her shift at the hospital. Her not being there was just an indicator that she would be at work and there wasn’t any reason to worry. Still groggy from his stressful night, Sigma reached for his phone to check the time, then to find two notifications, a text from Diana an hour ago, and an email from Crash Keys two hours ago. His heart rate jumped as his brain registered what he was seeing and didn’t hesitate opening the email first to check it’s contents.

“Phi woke up a little before 5 this morning, our time. She isn’t doing as bad as we feared. She has a concussion and was still very out of it when she woke up and can’t use her right arm right now. The doctor here wants to stabilize her shoulder and keep an eye on her for the next day or two though in case something unexpected happens, after that we’ll work on getting her packed up to fly her out to you guys. Maybe set her up to be checked at Diana’s hospital as soon as you can because she hasn’t had a scan yet and she’s on fentanyl right now to dull the pain from her arm and we only have so much to send over to the US. We haven’t told her that last bit yet because the meds are making her a bit loopy and sleepy. -Tenmyouji" 

Sigma let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding soon after hearing the news. Phi’s okay right now. He thought to himself as he opened the text from Diana.

“I got an email saying Phi’s awake! Hopefully we can see her soon." 

Not wanting to leave his wife on read he sent a small confirmation that he got it too before getting up out of bed. A weight felt like it had been lifted off his shoulders, but wasn’t completely gone. Khabarovsk was at least a 10 hour flight away from Irvine and he didn’t even like being on a plane for half of that. Soon he began thinking about everything that he should make sure is taken care of before Phi comes to stay; her room should be set up so it won’t be too bright or loud while making sure she would be comfortable while her arm heals. They would have to make sure she would be able to be seen at a hospital. Did they have what they needed to make sure she could be seen? How would they explain their relationship to Phi at the hospital?

It was going to be a long day.

-

"So, did you hear about your results or were you too out of it to pay attention?”

“Shut up.”

The whole physical examination flew by for Phi, mostly likely because of the pain medications. A doctor came by after she woke up to figure out how bad her head injury was since they couldn’t tell while she was out. All she wanted to do was sleep off her killer headache but was pretty much limited to sleeping on her left side and stomach because of the split on the right side of her back which made it very hard to get comfortable. Junpei had walked in shortly after the doctor had left to bring her some food to eat so she doesn’t have to take her medications on an empty stomach.

“Didn’t answer my question, but okay. How about this, did you hear about what they’re doing when they come back?”

“They were speaking Russian and I didn’t have the interpreter in here.”

“So no?”

“No.” Junpei put the tray on a nearby table before walking over to Phi’s cot to help her sit up, before going back for her meal. Lacking use of one arm, no less your dominant arm, made a lot of mindless tasks and actions a lot harder.

“So the good news is that it’s most likely a severe concussion, but you’ll be kept an eye on until you’re out of danger of having an aneurysm or hemorrhage.”

“And the arm?”

“Your shoulder blade is still in dozens of tiny pieces so they’re gonna use a bone cement mixture to keep them all together.”

“Bone cement? Doesn’t it have an actual name?”

“Don’t ask me, it’s not my job to remember that stuff. Anyway, you’ll be numbed before they start working on your arm. Can’t guarantee how numb you’ll be though.”

“That all you wanted to tell me?”

“Aoi and Akane are gonna come talk to you after your arm is splinted back up, then you can sleep.”

“Alright.” Phi resigned herself to waiting as she looked down at the tray of food on her lap.

After the doctor had left, Phi was left laying on her stomach trying to sleep as much as she could before the Kurashikis came to talk to her. Apparently it only takes about three days to fully set, but until then she’s going to have to be careful with it and wear a splint. Not that she’d have much reason to move around a bunch anyway with a concussion and several broken ribs. It was incredibly hard for Phi to keep track of time being so tired since she first woke up but it didn’t seem like long since she finished her food and started trying to sleep again before the door opened yet again as this time two people stepped in.

“Still sleeping?”

“Trying to at least,” Phi mumbled as she moved to reposition herself enough with her mobile arm to at least be able to see the siblings as they talked. They stood next to each other with firm looks on their faces. Clearly they knew she wasn’t in immediate danger, but whatever they had to say was serious and Phi began to feel a knot form in her gut.

“You’re not in trouble, what happened was an accident on your part so there won’t be any repercussions for you and Jumpy except for making sure you both know to be more careful from now on.” Akane was the first to speak up, whether or not she had noticed Phi’s unease, Phi couldn’t tell.

“Well we won’t be having you both go on missions for a bit, we’re having Junpei go through some of the data you got and it’ll take a bit, and obviously you’re not in any state to work right now, so I’m just going to cut to the chase.” Aoi’s tone of voice didn’t change at all while he talked. “The tools we need to make hacking into those files faster and easier are all the way back in the states, and you need a safer place to rest and heal up compared to a shelter with minimal facilities as well as being able to visit a hospital without worrying about being recognized for breaking into a government building.”

“So we’re having Jumpy fly you back to America tomorrow.”

It took a few seconds for Phi to register what the pair had said, silently cursing at the fact that with the medications and the concussion, thinking had become an incredibly difficult task.

“I hope you have it planned out more than that." 

"We do!” Akane piped in, Phi wincing with the sudden noise.“Sigma and Diana are living in California, they’re more than willing to let you stay with them for as long as you need to.”

“You talked to them already?”

“We called while you were still out and have been keeping them updated since. It’s been almost a whole day.” Phi stayed quiet and tried to pay attention while Aoi and Akane explained what happened while she was out and their plans for getting her and Junpei across the pacific ocean. After they finished, they left, leaving Phi by herself again. She hadn’t seen her parents since shortly after leaving Dcom, and while she did try and keep in contact over the phone, part of her felt anxious to see them again after being gone for almost a year.

-

It was almost Midnight when Sigma and Diana arrived at the airport. Waiting anxiously by the gate for the small plane Phi and Junpei would be arriving in any minute. Diana was trying her hardest not to nod off, she would usually be in bed by now with all of her early morning shifts, but managed to get the next two weeks off for a “family emergency.” Sigma on the other hand was still awake, it could have been lingering from his college days back when his 22 year old self had been inhabiting his age appropriate body, sure, but it was actually concern for his daughter. They hadn’t had the knowledge of them being parents for a year at that point, but when Phi mentioned she would be joining Crash Keys on their hunt for the fanatic the pair had basically transformed into stereotypical worrisome parents like they had raised Phi her whole life. Eventually it opened and from the other side walked out Junpei escorting a very tired looking Phi in an oversized jacket to accommodate the splint and keep her warm in the cool October air, it took everything in Sigma to not run up and hold her close.

“You both didn’t get too lonely waiting for us did you?” Junpei said walking closer to the couple. Both practically ignored him and instead Sigma went to pick up Phi so she wouldn’t have to walk all the way through the airport to the car while Junpei and Diana handled the bags. It was a small airport which made the walk back to the car a short one, all quiet knowing Phi needed it as much as possible.

Junpei headed out early in the morning without much of a conversation aside from a “good bye,” being picked up by a local member of Crash Keys while Sigma and Diana were still waking up. Phi was still upstairs in her bedroom sleeping as much as she could and Diana would bring her food later on to eat with the pain medication and help her with basic needs and anything else she needed help with before going back to sleep. Thankfully Phi would pretty much eat anything you put in front of her regardless of what it was so they would have to bother her as much as she slept to ask what she would like to eat. This would be their routine for the next couple of weeks while Diana was off from work, occasionally there would be a request or two from Phi, usually it was an extra snack, help readjusting the splint if it slipped out of place, or help with brushing her hair that had grown out it’s red roots since she left with Crash Keys almost a year ago. Eventually Diana would have to go back to work, and unfortunately that would be happening around the time Phi was supposed to wean off the fentanyl and stick to what they could get over the counter to manage her pain, so Sigma would have to take over managing her medication while Diana was away.

The night before Diana had her first shift back at the hospital she wrote up a schedule for Sigma to follow while she was gone and he followed it to a T. It had been a couple of weeks so her concussion, ribs, and shoulder had time to heal enough that she could start moving around again so long as she kept the splint on, albeit slowly and uncomfortably. Keeping track of time on the other hand hadn’t been a high priority for Phi in combination with the jet lag, sleeping, and pain killers making her thinking process go all over the place. Going off the fentanyl slowly let her start gathering her thoughts again, although not all of them were thoughts she wanted to have.

Sigma knocked on the door gently to let Phi know he was there before opening the door. Phi was on her left side on the bed as usual, her head buried in the pillow, hiding her face.

“I’ve got your dose for today, do you need anything else before I leave?”

Phi lifted her head from the pillow, hair a mess and her eyes red from crying. She didn’t say anything as she used her left arm to sit upright.

“Is something the matter?”

“I guess.” Her voice was hoarse and quiet. Sigma hadn’t heard her talk much in the few weeks since he and Diana brought her home. He moved to sit at the foot of her bed slowly so he wouldn’t jostle the mattress enough to cause Phi more pain.

“Is it anything I can help you with?”

“I don’t know, I’m still trying to process everything.”

“Everything with the accident or…”

“Everything since last Christmas pretty much.” Phi didn’t look at Sigma as she spoke. She hadn’t spent a lot of time with her parents after leaving Dcom before leaving with Junpei and Akane to join Crash Keys on their search. While Sigma and Diana moved in together towards the end of January and had helped each other through nightmares and breakdowns that came as a result of remembering everything that took place inside of the bomb shelter, Phi took any opportunity to keep herself busy and not think about the events of the decision game until she knew everyone was safe.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Phi nodded, head hanging low as she took a breath.

“I was back inside the incinerator, it turned on and I couldn’t move. I heard you and Diana screaming on the outside, I couldn’t hear myself burning, but I felt all of it.” Sigma listened as Phi’s voice stayed flat as she spoke. The trash-disposal room had been the source of a number of his and Diana’s nightmares. While they knew there was a history where all three of them survived, the other two histories often overshadowed it.

“Have you had any other nightmares I should know about?”

“Well there’s the whole Radical-6 pandemic and being on the moon for a start. I still don’t remember much from the Nonary game, I just have small bits and pieces without the context. The only one that’s really fully clear to me is the one where we were able to get everyone to nine points. On the other hand I still remember so much before I was frozen.”

“Do you mind if I ask what you do remember about the Nonary Game?”

“Tenmyouji and Clover were handcuffed to the sink in the infirmary, K giving Dio some water to drink to determine if it was safe to drink or not after I shoved a spoonful of food in his mouth, Dio holding a moon rock over my head, and then I think you were trying to talk to me in the pressure exchange chamber but I was having a really hard time understanding what you were trying to say.”

“I don’t think you want the details for those timelines quite yet, but I can talk to you about them later if you would like me to.”

“Thanks…” the pair sat there in silence, contemplating, before Sigma opened his mouth.

“It’s not your fault that the virus escaped the facility, we didn’t know that Mira had a vial containing Radical-6 on her and Diana did what she did because she wanted to save you. Besides, not everything that came out of the Decision Game was bad, like you.”

“And Delta. You haven’t said anything about him at all.”

“Well, you know that me and Diana were trapped in the shelter when the two of you were conceived, and the month and a half before that was essentially torture to Diana and myself. Things were a bit better after that, but after we realized she was pregnant, it felt like we had something to keep going for. I didn’t think twice about sending you both in the transporter after you both were born and making sure the time we had with you afterwards was the best we could possibly make it.”

“What timeline did this happen in?”

“It was after you… passed away in the Trash-disposal room. We didn’t know how you had died at the time because of the supposed amnesia drugs.”

“Oh.” The room fell silent once more. This was the first time either of them had really talked openly about their experiences in depth. Sure they had friends in and out of Crash Keys and the SOIS who had an idea of what happened, but it was something else entirely when the other person was right there with you.

“Hey Sigma, could I ask you to do something for me?”

“What is it?”

“Could you give me a hug please? Just be careful about the splint.” Phi slowly turned her body to face Sigma at a more comfortable angle. He moved closer and opened his arms to wrap around his daughter and keep her close, trying his best to not move the splint on her back as she buried her head in his chest.

“I’m not going to turn down a request like that.” She was so small in his arms, not as small as when she was a newborn, but small in the sense that Sigma felt like she’d snap in two if he wasn’t careful. How she managed to go almost ten months without a major incident was a mystery to him.

“Did Diana ever tell you what your birthday was?”

“I don’t think so, I’ve always just had it celebrated in June since that was approximately ten months before my foster parents got me.”

“It’s November 16th. I made a calendar on one of the walls in the lounge and the 24 hour clock on the bracelets helped us tell when a full day went by and I’d mark it off.”

“Any reason you decided to bring that up?”

“Well it’s this Friday, I thought you’d like to know.”

“Wait how long have I been here?” Phi raised her head.

“We picked you up on the 25th of October, and it’s the 13th now, so about three weeks.”

“Huh.” They stayed like that for a few minutes, Sigma not willing to remove his arms from Phi until she moved to free herself, and Phi herself perfectly content with right where she was at that point in time.

“Do you think you could help me with something else?”

“It depends on what that ‘something else’ is, I’d have to find out before I can give you an answer.”

“Could you help me with my hair? I haven’t been able to bleach it since last December and it’s longer than I’d like it to be even though I’ve gotten trims when I could.”

“I only dyed my hair once in highschool and it turned out awful, that was also over 50 years ago for my current consciousness.”

“I can tell you how to do it, we could also try and get Diana to help too.”

“I guess I can do it, you’ll have to wait until you have that splint off first.”

“I guess that’ll work. One last thing, though.” She said as she moved to free herself and sit up straight.

“What is it?”

“Can you show me around your house and what food I can eat? I pretty much only know the route from here to the bathroom and I’m getting a little stir crazy being stuck in here all day.”

“That’s understandable, do you need help standing up?”

“No I’ve got it, just give me a minute.”

-

“I’m home! How’s Phi- oh?”